The present application is an improvement over the invention disclosed and claimed in U.S. Ser. No. 594,628, filed Mar. 29, 1984, entitled "A Mechanical Coupling Assembly and Method of Using Same", assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The '628 application relates to a mechanical coupling assembly for coupling a coaxial cable to a coaxial cable drop wire splice box, and includes a deformable compressive member which seals a space between an outer layer of a coaxial cable being coupled and a connector body disposed over this outer layer. Driver means are used for compressing the deformable compressive member, and the driver means is engagable via threads with a male threaded member extending from the drop wire splice box. Though the deformable compressive member provides an excellent sealing means for preventing moisture ingress into the connection so formed between the outer layer of the cable and the connector body, a problem still exists in the art of sealing the threaded interface between the driver means and the male threaded member extending from the drop wire splice box, which disadvantageously sometimes allows water to enter the coaxial cable.
Prior art methods for solving this problem include forming a circular groove around a portion of external threads of the bolt member extending from the drop wire splice box and placing an O-ring in this groove. According, when the connector body is screw threaded over the bolt member and past the O-ring, the O-ring provides a seal which prevents water from entering the interface between the drive means and the bolt member. This prior art method is disadvantageous since tolerances required for adequately forming the groove so as to provide an acceptable sealant blockage are extremely small, and oftentimes the O-ring does not adequately seal as intended. Also, in some drop wire splice boxes, the bolt member is cast onto the drop wire splice box making the formation of the groove per se extremely difficult let alone any type of groove having very precise tolerances. Furthermore, this construction is of no use for sealing drop wire splice box connections where the drop wire splice box is already in place in the field since it is impractical to form the required groove in the field thereby necessitating that the drop wire splice box be replaced.